Maple Peak Run: A Wet N' Wild Journey Through Canada's Natural Wonders
Maple Peak Run: A Wet N' Wild Journey Through Canada's Natural Wonders Many people who talk about more rides in Epcot's World Showcase commonly bring up the idea of a log flume based ride in the Canada Pavilion. With the location of the (not as good as the original) Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment adjacent to this pavilion, a very much needed refurbishment to the imagination pavilion could see room for this attraction to come into fruition. The ride would be an original non-IP based attraction, showcasing the culture of Canada while also providing guests with a thrilling and educational water ride that gives guests a chance to cool off from the Florida heat, and Epcot a new E-Ticket thrill ride that it so desperately needs. The ride (if it needs one) could be sponsored by West Fraser, a forestry company based in Vancouver, or Canadian Organic Maple based in New Brunswick, Canada. I came up with this ride to further the idea of more non-IP based rides in Epcot, which is something I think the park really needs. A lot of the ride's humor is inspired off of gags that could be found in classic rides such as Pirates of the Carribean or Haunted Mansion. Ride Summary Ride Entrance The entrance to this attraction would be a facade of a sawmill, with a plaque bearing the title of the experience. In large white lettering, the front of the facade reads Maple Peak Sawmill Co. Now offering tours! To the side, a large rocky hill (Maple Peak) is seen, boasting the largest drop of the ride at 75 feet in height. Waves of water are sent in all directions when the vessels reach the lake at the bottom, hurling it at guests who stand on a bridge in order to cool off. Before you walk in to begin your adventure, a stump with an axe stuck in the center stands before you, a great photo opportunity where guests could pretend to try and pull it out with the hill and the sawmill in the background. A sign warns you before you enter the ride'': You may get wet, aye!'' Ride Line The queue for this attraction would take guests inside Maple Peak Sawmill, which would offer many interactive elements to entertain the guests. Logs would be being carried through the queue, sometimes passing by the guests waiting in line with creative props on them, like having a beaver sleeping atop it, or a "missing" Mickey ear hat sitting on it. Within the queue, real wood carvings of famous Disney characters can be found, like Figment, Stitch or some other IP-Based character Disney could squeeze in. There would also be wooden carvings of various attractions or park weenies, such as Spaceship Earth or a Haunted Mansion Doom Buggy with a hitch-hiking ghost seated inside it. Guests could find ropes to pull or buttons to push that cause comedic things to happen within the sawmill. Guests exit the sawmill and cross a bridge that leads to a separate building, which is the house of the CEO of Maple Peak Sawmill, Sean M. Sison. Guests waiting here can use a water cannon to shoot at riders on the attraction as they make their way under the bridge. After walking over the bridge, guests enter through the office of Sean M. Sison, where a moose head audio-animatronic mounted on the wall (similar to the one at Country Bear Jamboree) talks and interacts with the guests. Instead of pre-recorded phrases, a cast member would be voicing and controlling the moose, calling out guests in the queue to have a short conversation with. If the wait times are shorter for the attraction, the moose head will have pre-recorded speech to use instead of cast member interaction in order to keep the line moving. As guests exit the office and approach the loading station, they will find a cast member (dressed in flannel, of course) guiding their party to their seats. This new room is shown to be infested with beavers, as they chew on various carpets and paintings. As they wait, they can see a beaver animatronic gnawing at a fake control panel for the ride (the real one housed somewhere else) as it sparks occasionally. A voice over the speakers is repeating the ride safety instructions in both English, Spanish, and French. In this part of the new building, a chandelier made of moose antlers provides light to the large room, where paintings of various locations in Canada hang, some obviously with gnawed frames and parts being chewed off by animatronic beavers. Ride Vehicle The ride vehicle for this attraction is very similar to that of Splash Mountain's at the Magic Kingdom, the only noticeable differences being built-in speakers for ride narration, the color, a very small change in shape, and Brer Rabbit not being featured as a masthead. The log itself is also a much lighter color, made to look like maple wood. The sides of the log have a message plastered to it, stating Property of Maple Peak Sawmill Co. The other side that's visible to guests reads DO NOT CUT THIS LOG! Tours Only! The front of the log has a carving of the Canadian Flag where Brer Rabbit would be on Splash Mountian, except much larger and more visible. The capacity of each vehicle is exactly the same with four rows, seating two (sometimes three) people per row. The ride vehicle also has the ability to vibrate, simulating a rocky or shallow terrain. Ride The ride exits the loading station and the on-ride narration begins. Sean M. Sison (voiced by Christopher Plummer) welcomes you to the tour, apologizing for not having a better form of transportation due to "budget cuts." He explains to save his dying sawmill company, he has expanded his business to include tours of various parts of Canada. He tells you that you are the first people who volunteered to go on this tour, saying to ignore the other guests who were waiting in line with you, they were going uhhhh... somewhere else. You are taken up a lift hill, one in which logs are taken up to be cut. Sean tells you not to worry, as the saws on the hill have been turned off to be used on the tour. As you float past a large On/Off switch, though, a beaver flips the switch with his tail while he waves to guests. The narrator reassures the guests that everything will be fine as the blades begin to rotate. The saws that swing over the hill nearly miss the log multiple times as the riders finally make it out of the sawmill. After another apology from Mr. Sison, he continues the tour at the first stop of the tour, Niagra Falls. Guests enter a show building, where water is rushing over the river in which your vehicle is floating on. Niagra Falls is explained as a natural border between the United States and Canada, showing riders a combined view of water rushing over on the Canadian side of the falls (where the riders are slowly inching towards the edge), and a screen showing a view of the rest of the falls. A barrel floats past them on the river, where an audio-animatronic cat is peeking its head out. The barrel goes over the falls, the cat turns white with fear, and the barrel disappears over the side of the falls. Sean worriedly tells the guests they should probably leave before they too go over the falls, and the log makes a sharp turn right at the very edge of the falls. The log slightly leans over the side, giving people onboard a view down the waterfall, which is mostly screen made to look three dimensional. The log vibrates as they scrape against the very edge, just barely escaping the current of the waterfall. Giving a sigh of relief, our narrator tells us our next stop will be Ottawa. The air turns colder, and the boat passes through an icy Rideau Canal. Guests see the Parliment of Canada as children play ice hockey on the icy canal, the Parliment building using forced perspective to look bigger, and the children audio-animatronics. The narrator explains the importance of Ottawa and the Parliment building before pointing out the hockey players and explaining the importance of hockey as a sport in Canada. Before the log enters the next scene, an animatronic moose is seen attempting to ice skate, comedically slipping around. From all of the animatronics, a light mist is released out of the mouths to simulate their breathing in a cold environment. Riders get off of the canal and onto the St. Lawerence River as you stop by Montreal. The skyline of the city is seen as the log passes by on the river, the narrator again explaining the city. The stars in the sky form different constellations of maple leaves, different animals, and even a Hidden Mickey or two. The riders then go to Quebec, animatronic street performers all along the coast of the St. Lawrence river wave to the riders. Some performers squirt water at the guests in creative ways, while others perform handstands and acrobatic tricks. Sean talks about the city and it's French influence, teaching you some French words as he explains it. Fireworks begin to shoot off in the night sky via. projections on the walls. As riders exit Quebec, they get off the Saint Lawrence River into the Northern Atlantic Ocean. The Northern Lights are seen above as, along the coast of a floating iceberg, a mother polar bear and her cubs roar to the boat, the little ones letting out small squeals. Mr. Sison explains the breathtaking beauty of the frozen north and points out the various wildlife in the breathtaking landscape. Sean tells the riders that it is a long journey to the next stop, so he's found a quick and cheap way to get us there quicker. Guests enter the mouth of a whale, darkness surrounding them. Soon, the log jumps up, simulating being fired out of the blowhole. The vessel enters the next seen as the whale cheerfully waves goodbye. Riders venture out of the show building back outside, a forest of maple trees is soon surrounding the creek. Mr. Sison talks about the forest and the business of forestry and maple production in Canada as the sweet smell of maple is released into the air. Guests go by more comedic scenes, like animatronic geese attempting to steal a birdwatcher's hat, and a totem pole quartet singing an original song titled "Good Ol' Canada." A grizzly bear is seen licking from a tap of maple syrup as it slowly drips, and a band of marmots plays along to the song. A herd of bison sits along the shore, spitting water at the log. Mr. Sison says that the best path back to the sawmill is up the creek, and the log begins to move in that direction. You pass by some billboards, advertising the sawmill with the slogan, "Wood you need some wood? Indeed you wood." As guests reach a split in the creek, the path that was supposed to be taken has a dam built in it with beavers relaxing on top of it. The vessel is forced to turn the other direction, towards the rocky hill that can be seen from in front of the ride. Large signs read, ''Keep out, aye! ''As you approach the hill, beavers armed with garden hoses begin to fire at the log. You reach the hill and begin to start your climb up, Sean rambling on about how there would be a lot of paperwork for this. A cougar next to your boat shakes his head worriedly at the guests as they reach the very top. The log plunges down the hill, snapping an on-ride photo and sending out enormous waves of water, soaking the guests. Mr. Sison is relieved to see that the party is okay, and thanks everyone for joining him on this tour of Canada. He again apologizes for the unsafe journey and tells everyone to come back soon when the fix the various "issues" with the tour. The log passes under the aforementioned bridge where guests in line get to spray the riders below. You get one last soaking from a hose-armed beaver and the log goes back into the station and the riders unload. After the Ride When guests exit the ride, they enter a gift shop with maple-themed sweets and plush versions of the animals from the ride. Most of the store is very similar to the caramel shop in the Germany pavilion, except confectioners will be making maple candies of many different varieties. Here, guests can pick up their ride photo on their MagicBands and meet up with the family that chose not to ride. Notes I am not from Canada, so there may be some things wrong with this ride. If this ride were to exist in Epcot, I would like it to accurately depict Canada and it's culture. Please let me know if you find anything wrong with any part of the ride's depiction of Canada, and I will fix it. Please give me feedback wether you like this idea or not! I will greatly appreciate it!Category:Fanon Category:Attractions Category:EPCOT Attractions Category:Epcot Category:Original attractions Category:Disney Parks Category:Walt Disney World Resort __FORCETOC__